Who can justify the Keystone decision?

[jzk]

This is about the most absurd decision of the administration to date. Private enterprise wants to create jobs and supply our refining industry a cheap raw material, and they reject it on the grounds that three years isn't enough time to evaluate it.

The oil is coming out of the ground in Canada one way or another. It can't be stopped near term. Refined products are becoming a US export. Jobs to build and maintain the pipeline, refining jobs, and lower cost fuel. And, no government expenditures necessary. Just get out of the way. Instead we are going to let China be the beneficiary. And, the environment will just get the same pipeline in a different direction and more VLCC oil tankers.

So, poor people will pay a little more for the energy they need to get to work.

Nice job!

[Rick486]

Originally Posted by jzk

This is about the most absurd decision of the administration to date. Private enterprise wants to create jobs and supply our refining industry a cheap raw material, and they reject it on the grounds that three years isn't enough time to evaluate it.

The oil is coming out of the ground in Canada one way or another. It can't be stopped near term. Refined products are becoming a US export. Jobs to build and maintain the pipeline, refining jobs, and lower cost fuel. And, no government expenditures necessary. Just get out of the way. Instead we are going to let China be the beneficiary. And, the environment will just get the same pipeline in a different direction and more VLCC oil tankers.

So, poor people will pay a little more for the energy they need to get to work.

Originally Posted by jzk

Nice job!

It's all about the EPA and their following of well funded far left environmental groups who fund the lawyers who sue everyone in sight to destroy our economy.

[LandLocked66c]

I'm torn on the issue. I see both sides, it's certainly not an easy decision...

[kd3pc]

so the potential lawsuits and unfounded scare tactics of the enviro whacks wins again....

and jzk, it won't be just the poor people paying more. EVERYTHING we make, move, or buy has oil at it's heart.

When will the politicians in general and this president get some backbone and do what is right for the country for a change.

We have thousands of miles of pipeline in this country with ZERO spills...just google "Colonial Pipeline" can't get much safer than that. And if the country has another new madron quake; the pipeline will be the least of the worries.

Were I Canada, I would sell it to the chinese or japanese and tell Obama, you had your chance to make money and create jobs, now you can buy it back from Asia...minus the jobs - and then ask if the premium to do so was worth it?

At least Canada is a decent trade partner, nor have we been to war with them over oil...or maybe that is Obama's plan - just take the oil from the middle east....

Who knows with this clown. The good news, is that with many more decisions like this, he just may lose in November....

[knothead]

"That such an enormously complex and environmentally sensitive project came down to a 60-day review was the result of political mischief-making by Republicans, who included the Feb. 21 deadline in the payroll tax extension signed into law last month. But if TransCanada is to reroute the pipeline (as company officials had already said they intend) and that route isn't even known yet, how could the State Department or White House have possibly endorsed it?

If Republicans had hoped to embarrass Mr. Obama with an election year "gotcha" — forcing him to choose between unions that support the Keystone project and environmental groups that oppose it — they made a serious miscalculation. The greater embarrassment is on the part of the GOP lawmakers who placed partisan gamesmanship ahead of the national interest."

Keystone XL: Obama made right choice - Baltimore Sun

[PBzeer]

A 60 day review, after he kicked the can down the road until after the election. The first permit was issued almost FOUR years ago (DownstreamToday.com - News and Information for the Downstream Oil and Gas Industry), so to say it all comes down to a 60 day review is misleading, at best, as the decision as been a matter of interest the entire THREE YEARS of Obama's term. This decision has nothing to do with the national interest, only the re-election of Barak Obama.

[Rick486]

Originally Posted by knothead

"That such an enormously complex and environmentally sensitive project came down to a 60-day review was the result of political mischief-making by Republicans, who included the Feb. 21 deadline in the payroll tax extension signed into law last month. But if TransCanada is to reroute the pipeline (as company officials had already said they intend) and that route isn't even known yet, how could the State Department or White House have possibly endorsed it?

If Republicans had hoped to embarrass Mr. Obama with an election year "gotcha" — forcing him to choose between unions that support the Keystone project and environmental groups that oppose it — they made a serious miscalculation. The greater embarrassment is on the part of the GOP lawmakers who placed partisan gamesmanship ahead of the national interest."

Keystone XL: Obama made right choice - Baltimore Sun

I guess this is a quote from the editorial page of a newspaper? Hmmm, not my experience that those are the most reliable sources for factual information.
For facts, not far left politics, go here.

Keystone Pipeline Project

and read the pdf files on the right edge.
You will see that, despite what the newspaper would have you believe, the design, planning, and permitting for the pipeline has been going on for years. The Republicans in congress are trying desperately to force the administration to do the right thing for the country. And Obama's approach to energy independence is to funnel billions of dollars to phony solar power companies owned/supported by cronies. Then Obama has the gall to claim that having the 30,000 people who will (notice I say will) work on the pipeline collecting unemployment will create more jobs than building the pipeline. And yes he did say that. You just can't make up the stuff this guy will say.

[jzk]

Originally Posted by knothead

"That such an enormously complex and environmentally sensitive project came down to a 60-day review was the result of political mischief-making by Republicans, who included the Feb. 21 deadline in the payroll tax extension signed into law last month. But if TransCanada is to reroute the pipeline (as company officials had already said they intend) and that route isn't even known yet, how could the State Department or White House have possibly endorsed it?

If Republicans had hoped to embarrass Mr. Obama with an election year "gotcha" — forcing him to choose between unions that support the Keystone project and environmental groups that oppose it — they made a serious miscalculation. The greater embarrassment is on the part of the GOP lawmakers who placed partisan gamesmanship ahead of the national interest."

Keystone XL: Obama made right choice - Baltimore Sun

Your 60 day review nonsense is a complete lie. Three years is plenty of time to review this. This is a pipeline of which there are thousands and thousands of miles in this country. Obama is willing to sacrifice jobs and the well being of the poor in this country over a political game.

[gryff57]

Yes, the stupidity of using fossil fuels will continue, regardless of the temporary measures put in place to try to restrict their use. The cost of the damage can't be easily measured but the temporary "benefits" are easy to spin.

"So, poor people will pay a little more for the energy they need to get to work." Oh my lord, the rhetoric is getting deep. How long did it take you to come up with that bit of nonsense? The "little more" in cost is what is driving our economy into the ground and temporary fixes will only slow the fall, not reverse it.

Countries, like China, are working hard at developing alternatives - the next big tech boom - which we will miss - hiding our heads in the sand, looking for more oil.

[jzk]

Originally Posted by gryff57

Yes, the stupidity of using fossil fuels will continue, regardless of the temporary measures put in place to try to restrict their use. The cost of the damage can't be easily measured but the temporary "benefits" are easy to spin.

"So, poor people will pay a little more for the energy they need to get to work." Oh my lord, the rhetoric is getting deep. How long did it take you to come up with that bit of nonsense? The "little more" in cost is what is driving our economy into the ground and temporary fixes will only slow the fall, not reverse it.

Countries, like China, are working hard at developing alternatives - the next big tech boom - which we will miss - hiding our heads in the sand, looking for more oil.

Yes, it is pandering to this kind of nonsense that is at the heart of the Keystone issue. Canada is not going to stop oil sands production nor is the US going to stop importing oil any time soon. Energy needs to be made as cheap as the market will bear rather than making symbolic, harmful decisions that don't advance anyone's interests.

Don't be fooled. China is building coal fired power plants faster than anyone else in the world, and they will be happy to import whatever oil Canada wants to send them.

Higher Oil prices harm everyone, but especially the working poor. They are not driving around in TSLA roadsters, Chevy volts, or even hybrids.

That being said, if you want to invest in alternative energy, more power to you. I hope you discover the energy source that will replace fossil fuels; I really do. But meanwhile, using fossil fuels is how the world puts food on its table, and a pipeline is about the most environmentally friendly way to transport it as possible.